Putting a Cap on Pollution in Legian

The regency of Badung in Bali has capped 14 raw sewage pipes from local businesses suspected of discharging into the drainage ditch on Jalan Padma in Legian.

DenPost reports that the stern measure of blocking the sewage pipes was taken by the Badung Environmental Agency (BLH-Badung) in conjunction with the Public Works Department after complaints were received by residents in Legian who blamed the pipes for discharging wastewater that eventually drains onto the Legian Public Beach.

The chief of the supervisory and control division of the Badung Regency, Nengah Sukarta, said that immediately after receiving complaints from the public and obtaining the permission of the chief of BLH-Badung, he visited the location with public works officials. On their first visit on Monday, June 3, 2013, they were unable to discover any sewerage pipes that could be linked to the pollution of Legian Beach and focussed, instead, on taking water samples to determine water quality from the drainage.

A return visit the following day, Tuesday, allowed the officials to survey the entire drainage ditch along Jalan Padma where they found 14 separate pipes feeding into the drainage ditch. While they could not directly confirm if the pipes, many of which were dry, were used to pump sewage, a decision was nonethless taken concluding the pipes had no place feeding into the ditches and steps made to seal them.